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Weather prevents Kent push in wake of Hurricane Stevens

Billy Root steers into the off side Getty Images

Glamorgan 64 for 3 trail Kent 307 by 243 runs

Glamorgan moved to 64 for 3 against Kent on day three of their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Canterbury, trailing by 243 at stumps after just 6.2 overs were possible due to a waterlogged outfield and then bad light.

Matt Quinn took the only wicket to fall, removing Joe Cooke for 10, leaving him with figures of 2 for 10. Billy Root and Kiran Carlson were the not out batsmen, on 26 and nought respectively.

"It was frustrating, especially after a remarkable performance yesterday when Darren Stevens got us into a great position," Kent captain Sam Billings said. "It was great to get one wicket, it was a great opportunity for 19 overs or so, it's never nice as a batting unit to come out at that time of day with the floodlights on.

"From a bowling point of view we had a really good opportunity there, the aim was to get three or four wickets to put them under pressure and unfortunately the weather has just been relentless, it's been dark, cold and windy. It's a credit to all the supporters who've come out, even today to watch, we really do appreciate it and it just shows how much this club means to a lot of people.

"It's just a shame, it's out of our control that we can't get out on the field. It looked pretty clear and there was no rain falling and the light was fine, but the outfield has been so wet. I know first-hand, twice I've played on wet outfields and got injured. I don't want it to happen to myself again, let alone any of our players. Looks are deceiving sometimes, it looked absolutely fine, but it was more suited for football really."

Play was delayed until 5.19 pm after heavy overnight rain left several areas of the outfield unplayable, with umpire James Middlebrook's shoes making an audible squelch as he strolled towards the pavilion to deliver the bad news following one of six pitch inspections.

When the action did finally get underway, with around 50 diehard fans still in the ground, Glamorgan resumed on 55 for 2 in reply to Kent's 307 all out. Just five runs had been added when Quinn knocked back Cooke's off stump in the 25th over, the batsman failing add to his overnight score.

Root initially looked more comfortable, driving Stevens for four through long-off but then surviving an appeal for caught behind off next delivery.

With the light deteriorating the players went off after just 24 minutes and with increasingly heavy rain falling, play was abandoned for the day. A bleak forecast for Sunday means the Group C game is almost certain to end in a draw, though Billings hadn't given up hope of forcing a much-needed victory.

"There's no reason [why we can't make them follow on]," he said. "At Canterbury when the pitch has been undercovers and it's overcast it can zip around. You can have a mad hour or two and all of a sudden, as a batting unit when there doesn't seem a lot to gain it can be a real opportunity for the bowling side, so that's our attitude and we've got to try and force a positive result as much as we can."

County Championship

Division 1
TeamMWLDPT
NOTTS431068
LANCS421157
WARKS421156
HANTS421153
YORKS412140
SOM404014
Division 2
TeamMWLDPT
ESSEX430177
GLOUC431064
DURH311140
NHNTS412138
SUR301227
GLAM403123
Division 3
TeamMWLDPT
KENT440083
MIDDX431067
WORCS422049
LEICS412143
DERBS412142
SUSS404018
Group 1
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WARKS10415145
DURH10325132
ESSEX10325129
WORCS10136109
DERBS1005572
Group 2
TeamMWLDPT
SOM10415148
HANTS10424145
GLOUC10532131
SUR10226123
LEICS10244111
MIDDX1027184
Group 3
TeamMWLDPT
LANCS10415150
YORKS10514149
GLAM10226127
NHNTS10334123
KENT1003797
SUSS1015494